My Industrial Cabin Build

[MossRoad]

We repaired the three broken pipes and i dug three others just to be sure they were ok, since they were in the same area as the ones that broke. Get the gravel back in, packed it down and replaced insulation, taped tarp down to sides, put in wire and put back one run of pex. Two more runs of pex left but im out of daylight. So i piled rocks all over and i will be back next weekend it is supposed to be a rainy week so it would have been difficult for them to pour anyway. I will be able to get the pex installed and pressure test it next weekend.

The cement guy i am using will does fantastic work. I feel confident that he will get it done right.

Walls will be attatched with 5/8 j hooks holding 2x6 treated sill plates.
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I've been considering putting PEX in our garage floor when we build it. Several websites say to do it exactly as you did, but the also say to set the wire mesh up off the foam or it won't be imbedded in the concrete and do little good as reinforcement. They suggest getting the bricks with the holes in them, and cracking them with a hammer to make chairs for the mesh to sit up on.

You might want to discuss that with your concrete guy.

 

[rScotty]

So i stepped out of my camper this morning at 7 to see this.
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That is my fancy septic system. It was empty and the rain floated it like a cork. I called the installer who told me i should have put some water in it. Well now i know.

Always forward. No prisoners. No Prisoners!

Not sure I agree with your installer's choice of tank or his answer. Holding tanks typically use an automatic pump with a float switch to dose the leach field. When the septic system is working, a submerged pump periodically emptys the tank. So there are always times when the tank will be empty. Common practice here is to use a cement holding tank - or at least pour enough cement around a fiberglass tank to hold it down.
rScotty

 

[rScotty]

I've been considering putting PEX in our garage floor when we build it. Several websites say to do it exactly as you did, but the also say to set the wire mesh up off the foam or it won't be imbedded in the concrete and do little good as reinforcement. They suggest getting the bricks with the holes in them, and cracking them with a hammer to make chairs for the mesh to sit up on.

You might want to discuss that with your concrete guy.

Another thing to consider is that it is typical (good) practice not to have any pex joints within the pour. Each pex run should begin and end above the pour. Best practice is to only have one joint on each run, and that joint is at the manifold. All PEX connections should be accessible; there shouldn't be any joints buried in concrete.

There's debate on just how much reinforcement (crack control) you get from wire mesh. Crack control comes first of all from good compaction - which is an art in itself - and from the rebar structure including perimeter beams. Also from pour thickness. The mesh obviously contributes some reinforcement but don't count on much from the mesh. I think of it as being mostly there as a handy way to tie the pex. I do like that idea of suspending it on fractured block.
Put some thought into what the cement finisher is going to be doing as he slogs around in the wet cement.
rScotty

 

[aczlan]

Another thing to consider is that it is typical (good) practice not to have any pex joints within the pour. Each pex run should begin and end above the pour. Best practice is to only have one joint on each run, and that joint is at the manifold. All PEX connections should be accessible; there shouldn't be any joints buried in concrete.
rScotty

I did that when I redid my upstairs bathroom. Ran 3/4" pex up from the basement to under the sink, then tapped off of it for the sink, (1/2") the toilet (1/2") and the tub (3/4") all under the sink, so that if a fitting ever goes bad, its accessible under the sink rather than being buried under the floor.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

Another thing to consider is that it is typical (good) practice not to have any pex joints within the pour. Each pex run should begin and end above the pour. Best practice is to only have one joint on each run, and that joint is at the manifold. All PEX connections should be accessible; there shouldn't be any joints buried in concrete.

There's debate on just how much reinforcement (crack control) you get from wire mesh. Crack control comes first of all from good compaction - which is an art in itself - and from the rebar structure including perimeter beams. Also from pour thickness. The mesh obviously contributes some reinforcement but don't count on much from the mesh. I think of it as being mostly there as a handy way to tie the pex. I do like that idea of suspending it on fractured block.
Put some thought into what the cement finisher is going to be doing as he slogs around in the wet cement.
rScotty

Yes, the thing I have been reading also stressed to not put any joints under the concrete, make a manifold box near your heat source connection, etc... All good points.

 

[BigBlue1]

Great job getting things repaired back to that point! And wise to dig up those other pipes to double-check them. Worth the extra time up front to not have issues later.

Rob

 

[ededic]

Another thing to consider is that it is typical (good) practice not to have any pex joints within the pour. Each pex run should begin and end above the pour. Best practice is to only have one joint on each run, and that joint is at the manifold. All PEX connections should be accessible; there shouldn't be any joints buried in concrete.
rScotty

To rScotty’s point about a manifold I have two poking out of the concrete covering 4 of the 5 zones in my build.

 

[BigBlue1]

Yep, all of my PEX runs start and end at a single manifold in my shed's floor. I think there are 14 runs.

Rob

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I have 3 manifolds handling 4, 3 ,3 for a total of 10 runs of pex. Each run is a continuis loop of 1/2 inch pex with oxygen barrier.

 

[rScotty]

To rScotty’s point about a manifold I have two poking out of the concrete covering 4 of the 5 zones in my build.

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Ed, I count 5 pairs to your manifold ?? I should post a picture of my manifold, I had designed a fancy (expensive) 8 zone manifold for my PEX .... and then I asked an old plumber what he thought. He took one look at my design and said, "Son, you don't know what you are doing. Let me build your whole manifold from scratch. It will work better and cost less".
I took him up on it; he was right, and it is a thing of beauty.

Ed, I do like that heavy tape holding your foam sheets together. To my mind the main purpose of the foam is that it crushes and gives the PEX a bit of protection when the cement finishers are tromping around in the slurry. The tape helps with that. Of course the foam itself separates the cement slab from the compacted dirt beneath.... you win some; lose some.
And what to do about the rebar?
I'm still searching for a really good solution to suspending the PEX and rebar inside a poured slab and still getting a good finish on the top face. Am interested in any and all ideas.

Be careful when the site is open like that. A concrete form is a natural venturi. It doesn't take much wind for the uplift to pick that foam up and the PEX with it.
rScotty